Method and apparatus for recovering copper, bronze and lead from mixture of copper oxide, tin oxide and lead oxide

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for recovering copper, bronze and lead by allowing methane gas to flow into a reactor and heat-treating a mixture of copper oxide, tin oxide and lead oxide under a temperature condition of 700-900° C. is disclosed. The method includes placing a mixture of copper oxide, tin oxide and lead oxide in a reactor, increasing the temperature inside the reactor, and allowing a reductive gas to flow into the reactor so as to heat-treat the mixture.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for recovering copper, bronze and lead from a mixture of copper oxide, tin oxide and lead oxide, the method comprising:
 placing a mixture of copper oxide, tin oxide and lead oxide inside a reactor; 
 raising a temperature inside the reactor; 
 introducing a reducing gas into the reactor and heat-treating the mixture at 700 to 900° C. to separate and recover solid copper and molten bronze; and 
 recovering vaporized lead through a recovery line connected to an upper end of the reactor; 
 wherein recovering the lead through the recovering line includes: 
 cooling and depositing the vaporized lead; 
 dust-collecting a portion of lead that is not deposited in the depositing step; and 
 recovering a portion of lead that is not collected in the dust-collecting step. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the reducing gas includes methane gas. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein raising the temperature includes introducing nitrogen or argon gas into the reactor. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the reactor contains a mesh structure therein,
 wherein the mixture of copper oxide, tin oxide and lead oxide is placed on a top face of the mesh structure, 
 wherein a recovering unit for recovering molten material is disposed below the mesh structure. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , wherein the molten material includes molten copper-tin alloy. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 4 , wherein in the heat-treatment of the mixture, at least one of an inertial force, an impact force or a rotational force is applied to the mixture or the reactor. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one of the inertial force, the impact force or the rotational force is applied to the mixture or the reactor 10 times for 1 minute to 3 minutes. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the cooling and depositing step is performed one or more times. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mixture of the copper oxide, tin oxide and lead oxide is obtained by burning a waste solar power module. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising cooling the lead in a condenser.